This exercise will ensure that the synergy between each CSI and the territory where it takes place is well established. This activity is linked with the need of fostering societal anchorage of the initiatives. The ultimate goal of the scoping exercise, in fact, is supporting the CSIs in aligning their processes and outputs to the societal context in which they are inserted, by ensuring that different levels of participation are activated. In this framework, guidelines, tools, protocols and checklists will be established for mapping the context, recruiting citizen scientists, engaging relevant stakeholders and establishing relevant agreements.
The Citizen Science Initiatives will be supported through a scoping exercise that will prepare their implementation.
In STEP CHANGE, four practical objectives characterise the scoping process: ensuring citizen scientists’ recruitment for each CSI, identifying and engaging relevant stakeholders, establishing institutional arrangements and other accomplishments for CSI implementation, and mapping training and operational needs as inputs for the evaluation and training components of the project. Supporting the societal anchorage of the initiatives means increasing their relevance, significance, feasibility and sustainability from the very beginning.
